History · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Florence Nightingale: Nursing Pioneer

Active learning brings Florence Nightingale’s story to life for Year 1 students by letting them experience history in motion. Moving, sorting, and crafting help young learners grasp how cleanliness and organisation transformed hospitals, making abstract concepts like ‘reforms’ feel real and memorable.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: History - Significant individuals
• KS1: History - Comparison of significant individuals

• 15–30 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Role Play
• 30 min · Small Groups

Role Play: Hospital Helpers

Children dress as soldiers, nurses, and Nightingale using simple props like scarves and toy lamps. Divide the room into 'dirty hospital' and 'clean hospital' zones; groups act out problems like overcrowding then improvements like cleaning. End with a class share of what changed.

Why do you think Florence Nightingale went to help soldiers in the Crimea?

Facilitation Tip

During Role Play: Hospital Helpers, assign each child a functional role (nurse, orderly, patient) with simple scripts to emphasise teamwork and purpose.

What to look for

Show students two images: one depicting a crowded, unsanitary hospital ward and another showing a cleaner, more organized ward. Ask students to point to the image that shows conditions *before* Florence Nightingale and explain one reason why.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Role Play
• 20 min · Pairs

Sorting: Before and After

Provide picture cards showing dirty floors, no bandages, and clean beds with soap. In pairs, students sort into 'before Nightingale' and 'after' piles, then explain one change to the group. Display sorts on a class chart.

What do you notice about how Florence Nightingale changed the hospitals she worked in?

Facilitation Tip

During Sorting: Before and After, have students physically place images into two columns, then pair-share their reasoning to reinforce critical thinking.

What to look for

Ask students: 'Imagine you are a soldier in the Crimea. Why would you be happy to see Florence Nightingale coming into the hospital ward at night? What might she do that would help you feel better?'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Role Play
• 25 min · Small Groups

Timeline Trail: Nightingale's Life

Create a floor timeline with key dates marked by pictures: birth, Crimea journey, hospital reforms, return home. Students walk the trail in small groups, adding sticky notes with their answers to key questions at each station.

Why do you think Florence Nightingale is still remembered today?

Facilitation Tip

During Timeline Trail: Nightingale's Life, use large printed dates and life events for children to physically arrange in order, linking time to change.

What to look for

Provide students with a sentence starter: 'Florence Nightingale is remembered today because she...' Ask them to complete the sentence with one specific contribution she made.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 04

• Role Play
• 15 min · Individual

Lamp Crafts: Night Rounds

Individuals make paper lamps from cups and tissue. Discuss why she used one, then role-play night checks in pairs, noting soldier improvements like better rest.

Why do you think Florence Nightingale went to help soldiers in the Crimea?

Facilitation Tip

During Lamp Crafts: Night Rounds, provide battery tea lights so students can practice gentle, purposeful movements that mimic Nightingale’s rounds.

What to look for

Show students two images: one depicting a crowded, unsanitary hospital ward and another showing a cleaner, more organized ward. Ask students to point to the image that shows conditions *before* Florence Nightingale and explain one reason why.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic through multi-sensory experiences to combat romanticised views. Focus on Florence Nightingale’s practical actions rather than her legend, using role play to humanise her work and sorting tasks to build analytical skills. Keep explanations simple, concrete, and connected to students’ own experiences with cleanliness and teamwork.

Successful learning looks like students confidently explaining why Florence Nightingale is remembered, naming at least one change she made, and showing empathy for her compassionate work. They should demonstrate this through role play, sorting tasks, and craft activities that connect her actions to outcomes.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Role Play: Hospital Helpers, listen for students to describe Florence Nightingale only as someone who carried a lamp and did not lead reforms.

  Use the role play to highlight her leadership by assigning students roles that reflect her actual work, such as cleaning wards, organising supplies, or checking patient charts. After the role play, ask guiding questions like, ‘What did Florence do besides carry the lamp?’ to steer them toward her broader contributions.

• During Sorting: Before and After, watch for students to assume Crimean hospitals were always clean and safe.

  Provide clear, contrasting images and ask pairs to discuss differences aloud. Hold up one image at a time and ask, ‘Would you want to be treated here? Why or why not?’ to prompt reflection on the severity of conditions before her reforms.

• During Timeline Trail: Nightingale's Life, listen for students to say Nightingale went to war for adventure.

  Pause at key events on the timeline, such as her decision to go to Crimea, and ask students to act out her motivation using gestures like placing a hand on their heart or pointing outward in a giving motion. Discuss as a group what these actions might mean about her reasons.

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Methods used in this brief

• Role Play